You Are Where You Shop

"You are what you eat." We've all heard that one before, right? In which case, I'm a tofu almond milk salad, but that's a whole other story. This begs the question--are we also where we shop, particularly in the political arena? Since when did politics and retail align? Apparently, the two are more closely aligned than I ever could have imagined.

And Utica, N.Y.-based Zogby Interactive has the proof. In a recent poll of more than 24,000 voters, the firm found that the political status of shoppers was reflected in the stores they chose to patronize.

Confused yet? I know I was. Until I read the entire press release. Consider the following: shoppers who frequented Wal-Mart were more likely to vote for John McCain (and George W. Bush, for that matter). For the 2008 election, 58 percent of Wal-Mart shoppers voted for McCain, while 41 percent voted for Obama.

The survey also found that Wal-Mart shoppers felt terrorism and keeping the military strong were the United States primary issues, while chosing the "the need for change" as one of the lowest concerns.

Who knew where we shopped could say so much about who we are? 

John Zogby had this to say about the fascinating phenomena, "We are where we shop. Our 2008 results re-affirm that store shopping choices align with political ideology. Shoppers at Wal-Mart and Sears are clearly more conservative than the electorate at-large. On the left are Macy's, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale's. Elections are decided in the middle, and Obama did that by winning Target, Costco, J.C. Penney and Marshall's by double-digits. If you want one indicator of how Obama pulled off an Electoral College landslide, look at Sears and Wal-Mart, where he significantly cut the Republican advantage Bush held over Kerry in 2004."

One question then, what does it say when you shop at Target, Ross and IKEA? Someone at Zogby should get back to me on this. Incidentally, Target shoppers voted for Obama 63 percent to McCain's 36 percent...

So, if we are where we shop, then we might all do well to think (as I am) about what our shopping choices say about who we are as individuals. Do you believe our shopping choices are closely aligned with our political beliefs? What do you think of the Zogby survey results? Leave your comments here!

--Heather Strang